A Different Sweeney Todd Tale
by Sarah Aimie
Summary: One night I had a dream, a dream about a girl named Alice and the departure of her family. I, Regina Lovett, have a dept to pay to Alice, she saved my life once and I want to repay her by killing the man who killed her family, Doctor Adrian Turpin. I have the characters from Sweeney Todd with a new one.


I remember things from a past I never knew, of a family I never known, of a place I have never visited, and of a man who never took no for an answer. I know that I am never safe anywhere, not even in my own home. The home I will never know or see again. My latest memory is of one where my childhood home burned down. some say it was a freak accident but I, however, think differently. Fires don't light themselves. They need an agent of some kind, to help light it.

Knowing that I could get more information from the library, I run across town and find newspapers with the mention of house fires. The only one I found was in 1886 when a Mr. Roger and Mrs. Grace Liddle and their eldest daughter Katherine died in a house fire the only survivor was their youngest daughter Alice, who was driven mad with the accusations that she was the one who started the fire in the first place because she was insanely jealous of her older sister, because she got all the attention from everyone including their parents and Alice wanted some of that attention. But in my visions I can see that the young girl who I can only assume is Alice loved her sister and never cared about the attention she was getting but she did care about one specific type of attention that Katherine was receiving and it wasn't the good kind. It was from a man, a man much older than her, a man who in Katherine's description was slimy, vile and creepy. His name; Dr. Adrian Turpin. To the population of London he was a visionary, a brilliant psychologist and world-renowned scientist. To Alice he was scum of the Earth.

I remembered that I found a book on Dr. Turpin while I was browsing the library one day I knew his name sounded familiar but I never knew why it did. I quickly walk over to the shelf where I knew the book was and started at the end of the shelf and followed it along until I found the book I was looking for but another hand grabbed it at the same time. I didn't look at them because being the shy wall flower I am, I'm not going to look at him. But when our hands touched I felt cold. Like my blood vessels where frozen in place, I shivered at the cold and look at the person. It was a man. He looked like he had been to hell and back. His eyes were black, his skin pale, his fingers dirty and hair wild but I could see somewhere deep down he was a good man. It looked like he really wanted that book but when he saw me he took his hand away and allowed me to take it. But I wasn't going to let him not have it so I took the book off the shelf and presented it to him.

'Miss, I insist you have it.' He says in a polite tone.

'No, please you have it, I just wanted to check something but please you look like you need it more than I do.' I say pushing it back to him.

'I don't need it. I just need to find him so I can kill him.' He says in a growl.

'Okay... Wait, he is still alive?'

'Yes. He needs to pay for what he did to me.'

'What did he do?'

'He ruined my life. He killed my wife right in front of me and he took my daughter from me.'

'Oh, my God, I am so sorry.'

'I need my revenge.'

'I think I can help you with that.'

'How can you help me with my revenge?'

'I need to avenge the death of a friend. I am also a tracker, my mother and I spent most our time in the forest tracking animals and finding people who don't want to be found.'

'This is my fight, I can't ask you and you mother to help me with something that you don't need to.'

'We are tracking the same person, besides he also killed my mother's sister. He needs to be stopped before he kills anyone else and his victims families suffer for it.'

'When I find him, you do know that I am going to make him suffer for what he did to me.'

'Only if I can do the same.'

'You're a dark little one aren't you?'

'My mother says I get it from my father who is a convicted criminal, he killed countless men and women he was hung a couple of years ago.'

'What's your name, child?'

'Regina Lovett.' He froze at my name. He had heard of the Lovett's we are the richest family in the whole of London, we even owned this very library we were standing in. He knew that our house would be the perfect place to kill Dr Turpin for what he did to his poor wife and daughter. 'Sir? Are you okay?'

'Yes, Child. I'm sorry, what did you say?'

'What is your name?' I ask with complete innocence.

'My name?'

'Yes.'

'My name is…'

'Gina, we have to go.' My mother calls from the other side of the library.

'Come on, I want you to meet my mum.' I take his hand and lead him over to my mum. 'Mummy, I want you to meet a friend of mine.' I watched my mother's face as she shook hands with the man.

'Hello, my name is...'

'Nellie?' He asks with a voice I haven't heard.

'Ben, is that you?'

'Yes. Oh, my goodness how long has it been?'

'Too long. I'm sorry tovar about what happened to you. The moment I read it in the paper my heart shattered, I really liked Lucy.'

'Yeah, she is the love of my life. I mean you know how it feels, Albert passed not that long ago didn't he?'

'Yeah but when you get caught murdering people you kind of know what to expect.' I have never known this friend of mum's she never talked about him. But I have noticed a picture of two children in a picture frame next to her bed. I can only assume it's Ben and herself.

'How do you know my daughter?'

'We reached for the same book, we both fancy the writing of William Shakespeare.' He says looking at me and winking.

'I know you two were looking at the book of Doctor Adrian Turpin. Gina has not stopped talking about him for several months now. I have to know what is your fascination with this man?'

'I just have to settle something with him.' He says.

'Mummy, can he stay with us? He has nowhere to go, he can live in the basement.'

'Gina, you can't just ask me something like that.' Mum says to me.

'I would be honoured if I could live with you, we could catch up and talk about the old days. After Lucy died I haven't really been sleeping any where. I sold our house because everything in it reminded me of her.'

'Ben I am so sorry.'

It's not your fault.'

'Whose fault is it?'

'Doctor Adrian Turpin.'

'I would like to help you with anything you want.' Mum said , it was a shock to both myself and this mysterious man. Mum had a murder streak too, maybe that's why she fell in love with my father.

'Thank you Nellie.' He says. He puts his arms out and mum automatically knew what he wanted. She fell into his arms and they both sighed like they were complete, which to my eyes they were. They must have been lovers at one point or another but it didn't work, maybe it was because my grandmother forced mum to marry dad and Ben had to marry Lucy but they each grew to love their partners but seeing each other must have sparked something within them which will make them do anything for each other. Just like when they were kids.


End file.
